A a morton



April 12, 1932. HORTON 1,853,054

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 11, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 1 35 INVENTOR M mam, 01% v ATTCRNEY April 12, 1932. A. A.HORTON TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 11, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 2 BY 4%, 06 4444,] *4/44? ATTORNEY April 12, 1932.

A. A. HORTON TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 11,1928 INVENTOR mama h'rlan 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 A il 12, 1932. A. A" HORTON1,853,054

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Aug. 11, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES. PATENTOFFICE ALLEN A. HORTON, OF PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO BURROUGHSADDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 01''MICHIGAN TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Application filedAugust 11, 1928. Serial No. 298,918.

This invention relates to a transfer mechanism for calculating machines.It relates particularly to a transfer mechanism of the planetary geartype and to one that is capable of borrowing as well as carrying so thatit may be used for both subtraction and addition.

The general'object of the invention is to a provide an improved transfermechanism that will effect transfers efficiently, quickly andaccurately.

. Another object is to provide an improved transfer mechanism of theplanetary gear type that is capable of both borrowing and carrying.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing specification and drawings.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings inwhich;

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the transfer mechanism showingportions thereof between the pinion'of units order and the pinion ofnext hi her order.

Fig. 2 is a sectional front elevation of the transfer mechanism.

3 is a perspective view of a portion of the transfer mechanism and itscontrols.

Fig. 4.- is a reverse perspective of the controls shown at the left handside of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation on the line 5 -5 ofFig. 2, the mechanism being shown conditioned to effect a carry and theparts being in the positions they occupy at just about the time a carry1 is to take place.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 with the mechanism conditioned toeffect a borrow 'and with the parts in the position they occupy at justabout thetime a borrow is totake place.

Fig. 7 is a' left side elevation showing the g I controls-forthezeroizing mechanism.

Fig. 8' is a view similar to Fig.7 with the zeroizing controls moved toposition to restore the indicator dial to zero.

Fig. 9 is a left sectional side elevation showing the indicator dialsand the transfer mechanism restored to zero by the zeroizing mechanism.

The transfer mechanism is shown associated with the register or counterof a cal culating machine, the details of the latter not being. shown asan understanding of them is not necessary for an understanding of thepresent invention. The counter comprises a plurality of counter pinions10 rotatably mounted on a shaft 11, each pinion being adapted to beengaged by an actuator rack or segment 12. The actuator racks arenormal- 1y out of engagement with the pinions but, when the machine isoperated, they are raised into engagement and then moved either forwardor backward to rotate the pinions. In performing addition the racks aremoved to the left as shown in Fig. 5 which rotates the pinions 10clockwise. In performing subtraction the actuator racks are moved to theright as shown in Fig. 6 which rotates the pinions 10 counterclockwise.While the actuator racks are out of engagement with the pinions, thepinions are held against rotation by aligning pawls 13 pivoted on across shaft 14, each pawl being urged clockwise by a spring 15. Eachpawl has a projecting nose 16 for engaging the space between the teethof its counter pinion to hold the counter pinion against rotation. Afterthe actuator racks are moved into engagement with the pinions, thepinions are released for rotation by means of a bail 17 which engagesthe tails 18 of all of the pawls 13. The bail is moved to the right fromthe position of Fig. 1. to that of Fig. 5 to move all of the pawls tothe Fig. 5 position to permit rotation of the counter pinions. Beforethe actuator racks are moved out of engagement with-the counter pinionsthe bail17 moves to the left again and allows all the pawls 13 to moveto normal position to hold their counter pinions in the new positiontowhich the latter may have been rotated.

The counter pinions are thus locked against ed to rotate with it whichmeshes with a gear to 9, inclusive, as illustrated in Fi 21 pivoted on across shaft 22, the latter being supported in the sideplates 23 (Fig.2). Each gear 21 has an arm 24 exten ing outwardly from its hub on whichis journaled a pinion 25 in the nature of a planet gear that meshes witha normally stationary sun gear 26 and with an internal gear 27 to whichthe indicator dial or wheel 28 is attached, said indicator wheel bearingnumbers from 0 2. The gear 26 of the units order is hel against turningby being mounted in the side plate 23 as shown in Fig. 2 and the gears26 of the higher. orders are held against turning by mechanism that willbe explained later.

"Referring to Fig. 1 it will be=evident that,

i if one of the pinions 10, for example, the

is rotated clockwise, as it is in addition, the units (gear 21 will berotated counterclockwise an it will carry its pinion 25 around with it.In view of the fact that the sun gear 26 is stationary, the pinion 25will rotate around it with the result that the internal gear 27 willberotated counterclockwise to rotate the units indicator dial coununitspinion,

' terclockwise. In this way the indicator wheel for each order isrotated by its counter pinion 10, the parts being proportioned so thatwhen a pinion 10 is moved one step its indicator wheel will also bemoved one step.

A transfer from one order to the next is effected by connections betweenthe indicator wheels of the different orders. These connections arealike as between the different orders and to avoid confusion only onewill be explained, it being understood that the others are duplicates.

Referring .to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be noted that the indicator wheelhas a spider30 connected to a pinion or sun gear 31 which is journaledon the shaft 22. This pinion meshes with a planet gear or pinion 33(Fig.

3) fixed to a shaft 34 journaled in the end of an arm 35 pivoted toswing about the axis of shaft 22. On the opposite side of the arm 35,the shaft 34 has a second ar 36 fixed to it which meshes with internagear teeth on a transfer gear 37.

The transfer gear is fixed to a hub 38 journaled on the hub of arm 35which swings on the shaft 22. The left hand end of the hub 38, as viewedin Fig. 2, has a pinion formed on it, the pinion being the pinion 26 forthe tens order. This pinion meshes with a pinion 25 for the tens ordercarried by the tens gear 21. The transfer gear 37 is normally heldagainst movement in either direction by two detents, an addition detent40 and a subtraction detent 41, both of the detents'being held inposition by a spring 42 connected be tween them. These detents arepositioned to engage projections .43 on the periphery of the transfergear as illustrated in Fi 1, and they normally hold the numeral w eelsof the counter in alignment. The detents may each be moved singly out ofthe path of the rojections by the end of the arm 35 whic .can be movedto the positions of Fig 5 and 6 to release either detent.

The lower end of each arm 35 is connected by a link to one arm 51 of ayoke-shaped member 52 pivoted on the short stud shaft 53 (Figs. 1 and 2)of which there is one for each order secured to the adjacent partitionplate. The member 52 has another arm 54 to which one end of a spring 55is connected, the other end of said spring being connected to a bail 56that may be moved up and down to chan e the direction of action of allthe springs y means of an arm 57.

In order that the manner in which these parts function may be clear, atransfer operation in addition will be described.

Gaming operation l0 and that it moves to rotate said pinion inion movesclockwise I clockwise. As the the gear 21 is rotate counterclockwisewhich carries the gear 25 counterclockwise around the stationary gear26. This rotates the ar 27 countercloc wise and carries the in iiatordial 28 in the same direction which rotates the pinion 31counterclockwise (Fig. 3). Counterclockwise rotation of pinion 31 tendsto rotate pinion 33 together with shaft 34 and pinion 36 clockwise asviewed in Fig. 3. Since the transfer ear 37 is held stationary, theresult is that t e pinion 36 travels on the inside of the transfer gearthereby moving the arm 35 counterclockwise. Counterclockwise movement ofarm 35 moves the link 50 to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5 whichrocks the yoke 52 counterclockwise and tensions the s ring 55. In otherwords, eliminatin the etails of the connecting gears, cloc wise rotationof one of the counter pinions 10 moves its arm 35 counterclockwise andtensions its spring 55.

- This counterclockwise movement of the arm 35 continues withouteffecting a carry until the counter pinion 10 passes from what ma becalled its 9 to its 0 position, at which time the end of the arm 35engages the addition detent 40'and pushes it outwardly releases thedetent 40 which thereupon returns to its Fig. 1 position in the path ofthe next stop 43 on the edge or periphery of the transfer gear tothereby arrest movement of the gear after it has moved a distancesufficient to move the next numeral wheel one step. During this movementof the parts, the counter pinion 10 is held against backward rotation byengagement with its actuator rack 12, but it may keep advancing foraccumulating a number in its numeral wheel. As the transfer gear 37rotates clockwise it rotates its pinion 26 with it which, in turn,rotates its companion pinion 25 counterclockwise. The pinion 25 mesheswith the internal gear 27 of the tens order which carries the tensnumeral dial 28, the pinion 25 being carried by the gear 21 of the tensorder. The gear 21 of the tens order is held against backward movement,however, because it is in engagement with its counter pinion 10 of thetens order which, in turn, is in engagement with its actuator rack.Accordingly, counter clockwise movement of the pinion 25 acts to rotatethe indicator dial in the tens order counterclockwise, the movementbeing just sufficient to advance the indicator wheel one step when thetransfer gear 37 moves from one position to the next. The one step ofmovement of the tens indicator wheel advances its arm 35 one step also,

said arm being between the tens and the hundreds orders.

Carries from the tens to the hundreds order, from the hundreds to thethousands order, etc. take place the same way, it being understood thatthe gears 26- for the orders other than the units order are not heldagainst rotation by the frame, but because the transfer gear 37 for thepreceding order is held against rotation.

It will be noted that a carry takes place while the counter pinions arein engagement 'with and are being rotated by the actuator racks. This isin contrast to transfer mechanisms of the type where an initial carrymust first be made and then the full carry effected after the counterpinionsare rocked out of engagement with the actuator racks. In thepresent transfer mechanism the pinions 10 are not advanced one step whena carry takes place. Instead, the indicator mechanism is advanced onestep and the pinions 10 remain in the positions they occupy. The effectis the same, however, because when a carry takes place to a certainorder, the pinion 10 of that order has to be moved one less step toeffect a transfer to the next higher order. On the other hand, if theindicator wheels are visualized as the counter or register pinions,these wheels may be said to be advanced one step when a transfer takesplace but, even in this event, it is not necessary to disengage thewheels from the actuator racks or fro lnthe pinionsthat drive thembefore a transfer can take place. It will be noted also that therotation of the counter pinions stores energ in the springs which latereffect the trans era. It will be further observed that the entiremechanism is geared together so as to make its movements positive andaccurate thereby avoiding difficulties that sometimes occur in transfermechanisms having a plurality of pawls,latches and detents. With thepresent invention it is not necessary to work to such close limits inorder to have the transfer mechanism operate efliciently.

Borrowing operation In order to condition the transfer mechanism toeffect a borrow instead of a carry, the bail 56 to which the springs 55are connected is moved downwardly from the position of Fig. 5 to that ofFig. 6, such movement being effected by the arm 57. This arm may bemoved downward in any suitable manner, a preferable way being to connectit to the means for conditioning the calculating machine for subtractionso that when the machine is conditioned for subtraction the arm 57 isautomatically moved downward. It has not been considered necessary toillustrate such connections as they are old in the art.

VVhen' the bail 56 is moved to the position of Fig. 6, the springs 55act to rock the yokes 52 counterclockwise which tends to pull the links50 to the right or in the opposite direc tion to which the springs tendto move the links when the transfer mechanism was in condition to effectthe carry. It will also be recalled that, in performing subtraction, theactuator racks 12 are moved from left to right as viewed in Fig. 6thereby moving the counter pinions 10 in a counterclockwise direction,that is, in the opposite direction to which they are moved in performingaddition.

Rotation of a pinion 10', such as the units pinion, counterclockwisetends to rotate the gearing mechanism connected to it in the oppositedirection to that previously described thereby tending to move the arm35 clockwise instead of counterclockwise. When the counter pinion movesfrom what may be termed its 0 to its 9 position, the arm 35 engages thesubtraction pawl 41 and moves it out of the path of the detent 43 on thetransfer gear 37 so as to free said gear to rotate counterclockwise. Thegear is urged counterclockwise by the action of the spring 55 on the arm35 with the result that, when said gear is released, it moves a stepcounterclockwise thereby rotating the indicator dial of next higherorder clockwise, that is, it subtracts one unit from said dial. Theaction of the parts is the same as in performing addition, the movementbeing simply in the reverse "direction. I I I 1 On account of the novelconstruction of the transfer mechanism, it is thus possible to effectborrows as well as carries by simply revering the position of the bail56 to change the direction of action of the springs 55.

Zeroz'ez'ng mechanism It is not necessary to restore the transfermechanism to normal after a transfer has taken place because saidmechanism moves back to normal in effecting a transfer. It is necessary,however, to return the numeral dials to zero after a series ofcalculations has taken place and, for this purpose, a zeroizingmechanism is provided.

The zeroizing mechanism is operated by a lever 60 having a finger piece61. This lever is an extension of a cam plate 62 fixed to a cross shaft63 that extends between and is journaled in the side plates 23. Thisshaft is semicircular in cross section as illustrated in Fig. 3, and itis located relative to the aligning pawls 13 so that, when the shaft isturned from its Fig. 1 to its Fig. 9 position, it moves the pawlsrearward to free the pinions 10. This shaft has a series of curvedprojecting fingers 64 on it which, when the shaft is turned clockwise,engage extensions on the yokes 52, as illustrated in Fig. 8, to rocksaid yokes clockwise to push the links to the left as viewed in Fig. 1.The cam plate 62 is urged clockwise by a spring 65, (Fig. 4), the cambeing limited in its movement by the engagement of the lever with a stud66 on one arm of a member 67 fixed to a shaft 68. The other arm of themember it does not interferewith the action of the pawls 13 or the yokes52. The stop arms 70 are also out of the paths of the stops 71 so thatthere is no interference with movement of the indicator wheels.

lVhen it is desired to restore the indicator wheels to zero, the lever60 is raised upwardly from the position of Fig. 7 to that of Fig. 8. Asthe lever is raised the shaft 63 is turned clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3or counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 7, which results in rocking thepawls 13 rearwardly to free the pin-- ions 10. At the same time thecurved arms 64 engage the yokes 52 and rock them counterclockwise asviewed in Fig. 7. Also, at the same time, the cam plate 62 pushes thestud 69 upward and rocks the shaft 68 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 7 tothe position illustrated in Fig. 8 where the sto arms 70 are in thepaths of the stops 71. 11 other words, when the lever 60 is raised, thecounter pinions are freed, the stops are set to arrest the indicatordials in zero position, and the yokes 52 are moved to return theindicator wheels to zero. The indicator wheels are returned to zero bythe movement of the links 50 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1 in thefollowing manner.

The transfer gears 37 are held stationary by the detents 40 and 41, itbeing understood that the actuator racks 12 are disengaged from thepinions 10. As the arm 60 is moved to its Fig. 8 position, the links 50move to the left (Fig. 1) and the arms 35 are rocked clockwise. Inasmuchas the transfer gears 37 are held stationary the clockwise movement ofthe arms 35 results in counterclockwise rotation of the pinions 36 and33 which are connected to the same shaft 34. This r0- tates the pinions31 clockwise and since these pinions are carried by their indicatordials, the indicator dials are rotated clockwise, such indicator dialsbeing free to move because the counter pinions 10 are free to rotate.The movement continues until the indicator dials are returned'to theirzero positions where they are arrested by the engagement of the stops 71with the stop arms 70. The parts are proportioned so that the movementof the I curved arm 64 is just enough to move all the links 50 forwardfar enough to rotate the indicator dials to zero and to return the arms35 to normal.

The action is much the same where the machine is zeroized after asubtraction operation, at which time the bail 56 occupies its lowerposition illustrated in Fig. 6. In order to clear the machine by themechanism just described, said bail 56 must be restored to its Fig. 5position and provision is made for doing this automatically by means ofthe lever 60. Referring to Fig. 7, it will be observed that the lever 60carries a stud 80 positioned under an arm 81 pivoted on the shaft 82.The outer end of this arm engages under the bail 56. When the lever 60is raised the stud 80 raises arm 81 which, in turn, raises bail 56 andrestores it to its Fig. 5 position. The zeroizing then takes place aspreviously described.

When the lever 60 is released it is returned to normal by spring 65 andthe arm 81 is returned by a spring 83. The return of lever 60 returns tonormal the shaft 63 with its arms 64 as well as shaft 68 with its arms70. This frees the aligning pawls 13 which move to position to hold thepinions 10 against movement.

Although the preferred form of construction has been illustrated it isto be understood that variations can be made in it without departingfrom the spirit and scope of ing machines, the combination of twoadacent numeral wheels, a transfer member having a' planetary gearingconnection with the wheel of lower order whereby said member is moved inproportion to the movement of said wheel, a planetary gearing connectionbetween said transfer member and said wheel of higher order, detentmechanism for controlling said second planetar gearing connection toprevent said mem er, while being moved by said wheel of lower order,from transferring movement to the wheelof higher order, and meansconditioned by said transfer member as it is moved by said lower orderwheel acting to urge said member 'toward 'normal position, said detentmechanism being automatically released after said transfer member hasmoved a predetermined amount' to permit said transfer member to bereturned to normal to transfer a unit of movement to the wheel of higherorder,

2. In a transfer mechanism for calculating machines, the combination oftwo adjacent numeral wheels, a transfer member geared to the wheel oflower order and movable therewith in proportion to the movement of saidlower order wheel, gearing con, nections between said transfer memberand the numeral wheel of higher order, detent mechanism for normallyrestraining movement of said gearing connections, and means tensioned bysaid transfer member when it is moved for returning the member to normalposition, said member acting, after it has been moved a predetermineddistance by said lower order wheel, to release said detent mechanism topermit said tension means to return said transfer member to normal, saidgearing connections between ,said transfer member and said numeral wheelof higher order serving, when the transfer member is-returned to normal,to move said higher order numeral wheel to effect a transfer.

3. In a transfer mechanism for calculating machines, the combination oftwo adjacent numeral wheels, gearing mechanism connecting one wheel intra in with the other, said gearing mechanism having a portion thereofplaced under tension by movement of the wheel-of lower order, means forreleasing said tensioned portion for sudden movement as said lower orderwheel moves through its zero position, andmeans for conditioning saidgearing mechanism to cause said sudden movement of said portion to beeither a forward or a backward movement whereby either a carryv or aborrow may. be effected.

4. Inja'transfer mechanism for calculating machines, the combination oftwo' adjacent numeral wheels, a transfer wheel normally held againstmovement either forward or backward, gearing connections between saidtransfer wheel and the numeral wheel of gearin connection with thenumeral wheel of hig er order, a detent mechanism normally preventingsaid transfer wheel from moving either forward or backward, a transfermembergeared to said transfer wheel, a

gearing connection between said transfer member and the numeral wheel oflower order, said transfer member being'moved bysaid lower order numeralwheel either forward or backward depending upon whether the numeralwheel is moved for addition or subtraction, means for urging saidtransfer member to normal, and means for condi tioning said urging meansto return said transfer member to normal from either its forward orbackward movement, said transfer member having a portion adapted torelease said detent mechanism as said numeral wheel of lower orderpasses through its zero position whereby said transfer wheel may movewith said transfer member to effect a transfer.

6. In a transfer mechanism for calculating machines, the combination oftwo adjacent numeral wheels, a transfer wheel having a planetary gearingconnection with the numeral wheel of higher order, said transfer wheelhaving a plurality of stops on its periphery, detents cooperating withsaid stops to normally prevent movement of said wheel either forward orbackward, a pivoted transfer member carrying a gear meshing with teethon the interior of said transfer wheel, a planetary gearing connectionbetween said gear carriedby said transfer member and said numeral wheelof lower order whereby said transfer member is moved either forward orbackward depending upon the direction of movement of said wheel of lowerorder, spring means tending to return said transfer member to normal,and means for changing the direction of action of said order, meanstensioned by movement of said transfer member adapted to return saidmember to normal in a direction opposite that in which it is moved bysaid lower order numeral wheel, and a detent mechanism for Ezevntinmovement of said transfer memr from eing transmitted to the wheel ofhigher order until said lower order numeral wheel moves through its zeroposition, said 1 transfer member havin portions ada ted to release saiddetent mec anism as sai lower order numeral wheel moves through its zeroposition. 1

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

ALLEN A. HORTON.

